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My Review of Ardent Justice by Peter Taylor-Gooby for #RBRT

I received Ardent Justice from the author as a member of Rosie Amber’s Review Team and for an honest review.

I gaveArdent Justice 3* out of 5*

Book Description:

Ade is a tax-inspector. She hates the City of London. She hates the endless corruption, the bland assumption that tax is for the little people. She hates the casual sexism, the smug self-assurance, the inviolability of the men she deals with, and the cold certainty that nothing you can do will ever touch them. Then Webster tries to rape her, and she hates him enough to try to kill him.

She finds herself in the world of the rootless, marginal street homeless who live meagre lives in the shadow of the office blocks that house the rich. She meets Paul, an Occupy activist who works with homeless people. Ade and Paul become modern-day Robin Hoods, getting involved in various attempts to expose the scale of fraud in the City and help the poor and dispossessed, but the power of money to influence government and control the media defeats them. As their love for each other grows, they find real fulfilment in fighting for the rights of ordinary people, such as Gemma, a homeless single parent. Then Webster comes back into Ade’s life and it’s payback time.

Ardent Justice is a gripping feminist thriller, endorsed by Polly Toynbee, the leading Guardian columnist. It tells the story of Ade’s struggle against the City and for her own integrity, and of her love for Paul, and of how hard it is to live a morally good life in a corrupted world. It has been inspired by Zoe Fairbairns and Lionel Shriver and will appeal to fans of character-led thrillers. Profits will be donated to Shelter, the housing and homelessness charity.

My Review:

It could be seen churlish to be in any way negative about Ardent Justice, especially as the reader is told up front that the book is endorsed by Polly Toynbee and that the book is inspired by such eminent authors as Zoe Fairbairns and Lionel Shriver. And that all profits will go to Shelter, the housing and homelessness charity. But the mention of this somehow grated on me; it was as though I was being challenged to find any fault in the novel.

So, gripe over and having said that I will try to be as balanced as I can in this review.

Starting with the Blurb. There are too many small details in the second paragraph that is more or less repeated in the last. I’m not sure the second paragraph is needed. Hmm…

I enjoyed parts of the book. It’s an interesting, intricate plot and, on the whole, I did like the author’s writing style.

Endorsed as a feminist thriller, I can see why Ade is the strong protagonist and Paul a secondary character. But, for me, these characters didn’t come to life as I would have liked them to. Told from the perspective of Ade, I didn’t feel the anger in her that was warranted, with all that happens in the story.

There is also a lot of emphasis on how small and vulnerable Paul is which would have been all right but constant reference to this felt odd in comparison with him being portrayed as a protector of the homeless and a trouble maker by the police.

And I didn’t feel that the two characters formed a realistic relationship.

The dialogue attributed to Ade felt more like ‘telling’ instead of her talking and the internal dialogue was too stilted, too correct in the structure of the syntax, although the dialogue of other characters was good.

The descriptions of the settings gave a good sense of place and although the dreams sections slowed the action they were evocative and did sometimes reveal the turmoil of the protagonist’s mind.

I was in two minds about the ending; the hope that the two characters would be finally able to provide care for the homeless was uplifting but the knowledge that there would still be corruption and sexism in the City of London and that nothing could stop it was depressing.

I think the book would benefit from tighter editing

All in all this book wasn’t really a book for me but will, I think, appeal to readers who enjoy.the cut and thrust of a city’s financial shenanigans.

8 thoughts on “My Review of Ardent Justice by Peter Taylor-Gooby for #RBRT”

I know what you mean about the ‘challenged’ bit. I read a book a few months ago that, in the blurb, said that (whatever) percentage of proceeds would go to such and such a good cause. A couple of the reviews said that they had issues with certain areas of it but were giving it 4* instead of 3 because of the charity aspect. I think you just have to remember that you’re not reviewing the rights or wrongs of the subject matter or the intentions of the author, but the content of the book – but isn’t it difficult, sometimes?!?!! Then again, if people want to donate £3.50 to a charity they can do so any time they wish, after all.

Thanks Terry. I do remember you once saying to me that I shouldn’t apologise for any review I gave on a book and you’re right. I do try to keep in mind that I’m only looking at the content and it’s my subjective honest opinion but this one was difficult and I thought long and hard about posting. And you’re right about giving to charities.